Too Hot
by DragonLover4Life
Summary: Not quite fluff and not quite not, just some HakYona time together as the HHB deal with a bad heat wave.


Too Hot, Even for a Reptile.

It was mid August when The Happy Hungry Bunch found themselves stuck in a massive heat wave. Not only was the sun scorching hot, leading to poor Kija having some horrible sun burns every time he ventured out of the shade for more than a moment, it was also suffocatingly humid.

And while dragons they may be, none of them had the ability to breath fire or anything near enough of a resistance to heat to outlast the heat wave they now found themselves in. And it was only getting worse by the day.

By the third day of trudging from shade patch to shade patch on the dirt road, now cracking in places as it continued to dry out, they all had to finally give up and decided to camp out in one place for a few days until the heat let up. If they kept going as they were, they'd never be able to haul enough water to keep them from dehydrating in between rivers and poor Kija might end up replacing Yona as the red dragon's heir at the rate he was going.

Once they'd found a suitable spot and had set up camp, Yun went about grinding up some medicinal plants he had found to help with Kija's burns while he rested in the tent.

Shin-ah had long since had to abandon his mask if only so that he didn't suffocate completely. Under normal circumstances this might have made him a little uncomfortable, but at the moment he hadn't the energy to feel anything other than sweet relief at its absence. Poor Ao had practically melted into a puddle of cedar and white coloured fur on Shin-ah's shoulder, her little cheek pouches sagging as she spat out her acorns earlier, too tired to carry them around.

Eventually the boys had to give in and just follow Zeno's example and strip down to their undershorts and lay down somewhere in the shade –Jae-ha choosing to take a nap up in a tree where he'd at least get some wind to help keep cool.

This however left poor Yona stuck sweating in layers of unbreathable fabric wishing to all the gods that it would just start bucketing down with rain so at least the humidity would cease.

Honestly, she would have just stripped down too, but while she had gone down to her underclothes before when Yun would patch her up from time to time, it was never more than one small area at a time and normally she'd be under a blanket. Parading around half naked like the guys seemed more than a little different.

Still, her resolve was weakening by the second every time that barest of hot breezes ceased to move and she was left to cook in the stagnant heat of the air. It was a torture unlike any she'd experienced before.

Forcing herself to get up, she went about trying to find a suitable piece of bark she could rip off of a tree and use as a fan. After about an hour of searching however and only managing to break off small pieces that would crumble within a few minutes of use, Yona had to give up her search and head back to camp.

And head back she did. Only now she found her temper matching the heat in the air at her frustration.

As she entered the camp she saw all the boys laid out on the grass and dirt, arms and legs spread akimbo or covering their eyes as they napped the day away.

And that was it. She'd had it!

Why was it ok for the guys to lay about half naked and not her? The answer? It didn't.

Not to her and not anymore.

As they said 'drastic times, called for drastic measures' after all. So, with a huff half from frustration and half from lack of breath, she stomped over to the nearest rock, and threw off her shoes, her vest, her ribbon belt, and even slid out of her dress until she stood standing in nothing but her own underclothes and chest wrappings.

Already she felt ten times better at getting the sweat saturated clothes off as the warm breeze hit her bare skin and provided some sort of relief.

Still though, it was not enough. Her hair had grown back quite a bit since she first cut it and now ran just passed her shoulders again, insulating and sticking to the back of her neck, and that just wouldn't do.

"Hak!" she called over to where she could just make out a black mop of hair leaning against a tree root.

"Mhmm?"

"Can I borrow one of the straps you use to wrap your sleeves?" she asked, already making her way over to the pile of blue clothing dumped just beside where he lay.

"Sure, but what do you need it fo—" he began before cutting himself off as his eyes went wide.

He had been covering his eyes with his arm to keep out the light but had moved it and begun to sit up when he heard the Princess call him, readying himself for whatever task she might have asked of him. What he had not expected however, was her choice of attire as she marched over to rummage through the pile of clothes, he had discarded himself.

It's not as though he could blame her given the rest of them were all doing the same, he just found himself unprepared for a sight he'd never thought he'd see.

Technically he'd seen her fully naked before when they had first fled the castle and had later stopped to allow her to bathe in a small pond. She'd managed to get leeches on her legs and when she'd cried out in alarm, he'd run over without thought or hesitation to help her get them off.

It was only after he'd finished explaining that they were a nuisance and nothing more, so there was no need to be afraid, that he'd finally clocked that he had run over and touched her bare skin as she sat stark naked on the bank.

This wasn't that bad as she still had her unclothes on, however that almost made it worse in some respects. In that situation there had been no hesitation upon immediately averting his gaze and the whole thing had been unintentional and quick.

Now however, she had intentionally come over to him half undressed and for all the world acting like it was barely worth mentioning. And he supposed, in the mature side of his brain that no, it didn't matter, as it was boiling outside and the situation called for it, however that still didn't seem to bring him much comfort as he tried his damnedest not to let his gaze stray anywhere below her face.

And definitely, DEFINITELY, not too her long, bare, legs.

Yona for her part, seemed completely oblivious to his internal struggles as she continued to rummage through his clothes until she found what she was looking for and pulled out a long black strip of leather.

"Ah, perfect! Now, could you help me tie my hair up? It's so hot and I've never been that good at tying it myself when I can't see what I'm doing."

His mouth went dry, but he quickly recovered.

"Sure. Sit down and pass me the wrap." He said, closing his eyes for a moment and rubbing the back of his head.

Oh, the things she did to him and the things he'd do for her.

"Thanks Hak, you're a lifesaver." She sighed as she flopped down beside him and faced her back to him.

"That's my job isn't it?" he said with a light chuckle, "Never thought hair styling would be included in those duties but I guess a bodyguard has to be prepared for everything, huh?"

"Oh definitely," she replied with a grin, "though at least you don't have to watch out for flying teacups anymore."

He laughed properly now.

"Well at least _you_ admit how much of a brat you could be at time."

Her faced flushed as she replied with a light huff, "Yeah well, I've grown a lot since those days."

"You certainly have" he said, allowing himself to briefly take in just how much she'd grown as he used his fingers to help comb and gather up her hair.

While she was still rather petite, her legs were long. Her stomach, back and arms now lightly toned with lithe muscle from day after day of both sword fighting and archery practice. Yet her long neck still held her head high with the regal elegance that only a princess could possess.

Truly she had gone from a beautiful young princess, to a stunning young woman.

Finished with gathering up and smoothing her hair all into one hand, he held his hand out for her to pass him the leather wrap. Her hand brushed his briefly and evenrough as they had become with calluses, she could still make the action seem so dainty when she wished.

Carefully, he focused back on the task at hand and using the wrap, twisted and secured her hair all up into a neat pile atop her head.

'_guess having to babysit all those kids back in Fuuga taught be something after all'_ he thought to himself. More than one little girl would come up to him when he was a young boy and demand that they braid each others hair, and whether he said no or not he'd always be dragged along anyway.

With her hair now tied up and finally off her neck, Yona turned and sighed in relief before giving him a grateful grin and flopping down on the grass herself.

"Thank you, I thought I was gonna have to chop it all off again if I couldn't get it off my neck." She muttered.

"Do you miss it being short?" he asked out of interest. Personally, he'd liked her hair both long and short, but given how she used to fuss over it back at the castle he was curious.

"Sometimes. I quite liked it when it was short. It was much lighter, though I couldn't tie it back when it got windy, so I do like having it longer again if only for that reason." She said breathing deeply as she began to feel slightly cooler.

"Maybe I'll cut it again someday."

"Though, maybe this time not with a sword." He teased, laying down beside her.

"Maybe." She said with a teasing grin of her own back.

They lay there for the next hour or so, waiting until at least noon had passed before Yona groaned and heaved herself back up.

"This is ridiculous, I feel like I'm melting. Did you see any rivers or ponds not too far away on the map? Even if it takes a few hours at this point I'm willing to suffer the walk if it means being cool and clean in the end." She moaned.

"Hang on, lemme get the map from Yun and see, there's probably _something_." He said, taking great pains to drag himself up and onto his feet.

It was at this point that it was Yona's turn to feel the need to look away as she caught herself admiring the view as he left.

Gods above. She had always known Hak was fit and well built and had seen him with the top half of his robe off more than once, but usually on those occasions he was also heavily injured taking most of her attention and with bandages wrapped around him. Not often had she taken the time to admire just how made of muscle he truly was.

On the bright side, she noted that at least her flush wouldn't be noticed as anything other than early signs of heatstroke at this point.

{*****}

A few moments later, Hak had returned with the map in hand and they had both sat down to investigate. In the end the closest river was a few hours away, but they still decided to go for it.

When they had asked the others if they wanted to join, most had simply moaned and said that was too far but had demanded they bring water with them on their way back.

Yona had agreed, though already exhausted from the thought of having to carry water back over such a distance while Hak had simply nodded, having expected as much.

Two hours later they were both still hiking through the trees and hadn't found this supposed river yet.

"Maybe it's dried up." Hak said as he gave her a hand up a particularly steep incline.

"Lets . . . Keep going. . . for now." She said between pants. At this point she could have just swum in her own sweat, but she was too stubborn to quit now. Hak, while also drenched somehow was still breathing normally. Probably due to being used to long hours of training soldiers in the sun back at the castle.

Still, whether from his own hard work or not, she still found herself envious that he wasn't as out of breath as she was.

"Why don't we at least take a break up in that cave for a bit before we keep going? You look like you're about to pass out." He said, his face all seriousness.

"I'm. . . fine." She puffed, before adding, "But. . . I'll take you up on that."

Hak just nodded and helped her the rest of the way until they made their way to the mouth of the cave.

The shade was great and upon sitting down Yona was absolutely elated to find the rock further back was cool to the touch.

Closing her eyes and leaning her cheek against the cool rock, she let out a moan of contentment. It was blissful.

Not moments later she heard Hak come up beside her and make a similar groan of joy as she leaned his forehead against the wall.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to lay my head on a rock." Hak mumbled as he continued to press his face against the wall.

Yona giggled, "Me neither, I almost wish—" she paused for a moment and pressed her ear flat against the rock, "Wait! Do you hear that?" she exclaimed.

Hak turned to look at her a moment before putting his own ear up to the rock and listened carefully before a grin slowly grew across his face.

"Water." He said.

"The river must originate from an underground well somewhere within this cave!"

"Well then, lets start looking for it" he replied, already finding a branch to make a torch out of so that they could see once they got into the tunnels.

Once he found a suitable one and lit it, they both eagerly began to make their way into the back tunnels of the cave, marking their path with arrows they scratched into the wall of the cave as they went.

Not twenty minutes later, did they find it. I large pool of water bubbling up from some underground spout and eventually tapering off into a river that would lead back to another way outside, the water so clear they could see all the way to the bottom as if it were glass.

And best of all it was cold!

Not cool, but downright cold!

Without a second thought Yona raced ahead and dipped her feet in. She let out a quiet yelp at the sudden temperate change but didn't not pull her feet out.

Hak just chuckled at her and found a crevice where he could sit the torch in before making his way over and joining her.

"This is bliss!" she groaned as she felt the heat finally leeching out of her and into the water.

"Not yet it isn't." Hak replied with a boyish grin before jumping into the water with a massive splash, soaking her from head to toe.

"Hak!" she screeched, the sound echoing as she now did a complete one-eighty from sweating to shivering as the cold water ran off her in little rivulets.

"Come on Princess, you said you wanted to get clean too, didn't you?" he asked cheekily before dunking his head under and swimming over to her.

No sooner had she realised what he was about to do, did he already grab her ankle and by then it was too late as he gave it a sharp yank and dragged her in with him, all before she could even get out a word of protest.

The water hit like a shock to the senses, lancing sharply through her skin and down to her bones. Opening her eyes under the water she found Hak with a stupidly self-satisfied grin on his face, his dark hair floating around him in an ebony halo. A somewhat ironic sight given his actions.

She would have to get him back for that one.

But before she could come up with any plot of revenge, she glanced up and found the most beautiful view staring back at her.

Above the surface something seemed to be glowing faintly.

Not the red-orange glow of the torch, no. Whatever this was, it was glowing a soft, pale blue.

Slowly she swam to the surface, Hak swiftly following with a perplexed look on his face until he surfaced and looked up at the ceiling of the cave for himself, his own mouth now slightly agape in awe.

She had heard about these creatures during her studies one time when she was a little girl. Small bugs that lived in caves and created their own soft light like fairies.

Glow-worms.

"Quick Hak! Let's put the torch further up the tunnels so we can see them properly!" Yona exclaimed excitedly as she swam hard for the bank, not even noticing her shivers as she raced for the flame.

Hak quickly got out behind her and took the torch a few feet around a corner until its light no longer interfered with that of the glow-worms.

As they re-entered the room, Yona was star-struck. Like little chandeliers, they hung at all different levels, their threads alight as well, making the cave appear as though it were lit up by stands of diamonds or the stars themselves.

Slowly, turning in circles a few times she made her way to the centre of the room and then laid down on the ground to take the whole view in at once.

"It's so beautiful," she sighed as Hak smiled, sitting down and motioning for her to rest her head on his lap.

"It is." He agreed, though his gaze was no longer on the glow-worms but rather looking down fondly at the look of joy and wonder she held as she rested her head on his legs.

"It's like our own little night sky. Our own little world." She mused, tucking her legs in close to her as the cave floor began to make her cold again.

Hak smiled and before she knew it, he was lifting her up and folding her into his lap so that she was tucked against his chest, his own hair still dripping water down his face and onto them both.

"What a day," he said, gently rubbing her arms to keep her shivers at bay, "From boiling hot, to freezing cold. Yun will have our head if either of us get sick after this."

"Probably," she admitted, leaning her head back to lean against his shoulder, "Still, let's enjoy this for now while we can. I've never seen anything so beautiful before and I'd rather not give it up so soon." She sighed, now finally comfortable and content as she sat in Hak's arms, clean, and contented.

For his part, Hak simply held her closer and pressed his face to her hair, breathing deeply as he settled down more comfortably against a rock protruding from the cave floor and felt himself fall into his own contented state.

They'd stay awhile in this little world of theirs that they'd discover and then they'd gather some water in the buckets they'd left at the cave entrance and start the grueling trip back. But for now, the time was theirs and neither of them felt any desire to move from their place together at the centre of this living starry night.

And so they sat, listening to the sounds of water echoing as they dripped from the cave roof and bouncing off the pool below, the sound of their own breathing and watched the gentle glow of their little friends above as they passed the rest of the day away, dozing in the cool.

{*****}

Hey guys! Long time no see (hides embarrassed at my negligence to my writing as of late). Honestly got the idea of it being so hot after my own experience cosplaying Yona as Fanexpo Toronto for two days and dying of heat. How does she do it? Maybe I'll remake my dress this winter out of a lighter material. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, and I'll try to get back to writing more regularly again (famous last words though, am I right?). Honestly this was kinda rushed, and I will probably have to come back a make a ton of edits/corrections later but for now I thought I should at least post what I had. Love you all and I always love to hear comments and opinions from you guys!


End file.
